News of the day from around the world, Feb. 8

Chronicle News Services

Published
4:04 pm PST, Thursday, February 8, 2018

1 Marriage ban: The British government expressed disappointment Thursday that Bermuda has abolished same-sex marriage, but said it would have been wrong to overturn the decision by the British island territory. Bermuda’s Senate and House of Assembly passed legislation replacing same-sex marriage with domestic partnerships in December, and the island’s British-appointed governor, John Rankin, signed it into law Wednesday. British Prime Minister Theresa May’s spokesman, James Slack, said Britain was “seriously disappointed” by the decision, which reverses a 2017 court ruling legalizing gay marriage.

2 Israeli wall: Diplomatic contacts are under way between Beirut and “friendly countries” to ease tensions with Israel over a cement wall it is building along the border which Lebanon says would encroach on its territory, the government said Thursday. Cabinet Minister Pierre Abi Assi told reporters after a government meeting that top Lebanese officials are in contact with the United Nations and some countries that he did not name to try to decrease tensions that have escalated over the construction of the wall. Lebanon and Israel are technically at war and both countries have fought several wars over the past decades.

3 No Valentine’s Day: Pakistan’s media regulatory authority, acting on a court order, has instructed all news channels, radio stations and print media to refrain from promoting Valentine’s Day. A Pakistani court last year banned celebrations on Valentine’s Day, saying it was against Islam and promotes western culture. Since then, the agency has taken steps to ensure a blackout on any Valentine’s Day promotions in print or electronic media. It warned media organizations this week that the court order is still in effect.

4 British fighters captured: Syrian Kurdish fighters have detained two British men infamous for their role in the Islamic State’s imprisonment, torture and killing of Western hostages, according to American officials. The men were part of a group of four Islamic State militants known as the “Beatles” because of their British accents. Officials identified the two men captured as Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh. They were the last two members of the group to remain at large. The ringleader, Mohammed Emwazi, was killed in an air strike in 2015 in Syria after an intensive manhunt. Known as “Jihadi John,” he beheaded U.S. and British hostages. A fourth man, Aine Davis, is imprisoned in Turkey on terrorism charges.

5 Pilot mourned: Tens of thousands of Russians attended a mourning ceremony Thursday at an airbase outside Moscow for a Russian pilot who blew himself up to avoid being captured by the militants in Syria who downed his plane. Maj. Roman Filipov bailed out successfully Saturday from the burning plane over Syria’s northern Idlib province, but was surrounded by al Qaeda-linked militants when he landed. The Russian Defense Ministry said he engaged in a gun battle with the militants and then blew himself up with a hand grenade when they came close. President Vladimir Putin has posthumously awarded Filipov with the nation’s highest medal, the Hero of Russia. Filipov’s Su-25 jet was struck by a portable air defense missile, the first time a Russian warplane has been shot down by insurgents since Moscow launched an air campaign in support of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces in 2015.